Enhancement of Performance of Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes mechanisms for reliability enhancement on control channel and data channel and mechanisms in URLLC. An apparatus of a RAN node for URLLC includes baseband circuitry to configure at least one DCI for scheduling transmission of at least one PDSCH content having same information. For each DCI, the baseband circuitry determines a CORESET for transmitting the DCI. The disclosure further describes mechanisms for the support of low latency transmission in URLLC. To improve peak data rate and spectrum efficiency in FDD system, the RAN node configures a DCI for scheduling data transmission using blank resources of a self-contained slot structure. Further, CBG-based transmission with separate HARQ-ACK feedback is provided to configure a DCI for scheduling data transmission of a TB and to divide the TB into multiple CBGs, and to configure uplink control data to carry separate HARQ feedback for the CBGs.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/556,175 filed Sep. 8, 2017, entitled “Reliability Enhancement forUltra-Reliable Low Latency Communications Control and Data Channels”,and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/567,163 filed Oct. 2, 2017,entitled “Support of Low Latency Communication for a Frequency DivisionDuplexing (FDD) System”, the contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure is related generally to wireless communication, and morespecifically to ultra-reliable low-latency communication.

BACKGROUND ART

Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systemsto today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. Thenext generation wireless communication system, for example, fifthgeneration (5G) or new radio (NR) communication system, provides accessto information and sharing of data anywhere, anytime by various usersand applications. Specifically, the NR communication system is expectedto be a unified network system that targets meeting different andsometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diversemulti-dimensional requirements are driven by different services andapplications. In general, the NR communication system may evolve to haveadditional new Radio Access Technologies (RATs) based on 3GPPLTE-Advanced so as to provide better, simple and seamless wirelessconnectivity solutions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent inthe following detailed description of the embodiments with reference tothe accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates slot level CORESET configuration and symbol levelCORESET configuration within a slot:

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of multiple PDCCH contents transmitted indifferent CORESETs for scheduling the same PDSCH content;

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of multiple PDCCH contents transmitted indifferent CCs for scheduling the same PDSCH content;

FIG. 4 illustrates association among multiple PDCCH candidatesrespectively in different CORESETs;

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of multiple PDSCH contents with sameinformation scheduled respectively in different bandwidth parts;

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of multiple PDSCH contents with sameinformation scheduled respectively in different BWPs using one DCI;

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of self-contained slot structure for TDDsystem;

FIG. 8 illustrates one example of self-contained slot structure for FDDsystem;

FIG. 9 illustrates one example of non-slot based scheduling on blankresources;

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of non-slot based scheduling onblank resources;

FIG. 11 illustrates one example of UL data transmission across slotboundary;

FIG. 12 illustrates one example of UL data transmission usingmulti-PUSCH scheduling;

FIG. 13 illustrates CBG based transmission according to one embodimentof this disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates CBG based transmission with separate HARQ-ACKfeedback according to one embodiment of this disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus forultra-reliable and low-latency communication according to someembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry accordingto some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates an architecture of a system of a network accordingto some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a control plane protocol stackaccording to some embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a user plane protocol stack accordingto some embodiments of this disclosure; and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Before the present technology is disclosed and described, it is to beunderstood that this technology is not limited to the particularstructures, process actions, or materials disclosed herein, but isextended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by thoseordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understoodthat terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexamples only and is not intended to be limiting.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc.,in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means A, B, or A and B.

Various embodiments may comprise one or more elements. An element maycomprise any structure arranged to perform certain operations. Eachelement may be implemented as hardware, software, or any combinationthereof, as desired for a given set of design parameters or performanceconstraints. Although an embodiment may be described with a limitednumber of elements in a certain topology by way of example, theembodiment may include more or less elements in alternate topologies asdesired for a given implementation. It is worthy to note that anyreference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances ofthe phrases “in one embodiment,” “in some embodiments,” and “in variousembodiments” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) wireless communication systems areexpected to satisfy several use cases, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband(eMBB) and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC).However, eMBB and URLLC have different specifications in terms of userplane latency and coverage levels. The key specification for URLLCrelates to user plane latency and reliability. URLLC provides servicesfor latency sensitive devices for applications like factory automation,autonomous driving, and remote surgery, and these applications requiresub-millisecond latency with error rates lower than 1 packet loss in 10⁶packets. For example, for URLLC, the target for user plane latency is0.5 ms for uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms for downlink (DL), and the target forreliability is 1×10⁻⁵ within 1 ms. As a result, URLLC services areexpected to exploit a shorter transmission time interval (TTI) ascompared to the TTI used by eMBB services to satisfy the more stringentlatency specification for URLLC.

An exemplary operating environment of the NR wireless communicationsystem includes a user equipment (UE) (e.g., a smart phone) and a radioaccess network (RAN) node (e.g., a cellular base station). The UE andthe RAN node can communicate with each other using URLLC describedherein. In some embodiments, the RAN node may include baseband circuitryand radio frequency (RF) circuitry. The baseband circuitry may includean RF interface to send/receive data to/from the RF circuitry, and oneor more processors to handle various radio control functions that enablecommunication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry. Theradio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signalmodulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting,etc. The RF circuitry is configured to enable communication through thewireless connection using modulated electromagnetic radiation. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc., to facilitate the communication through the wirelessconnection. In some embodiments, the UE may also have baseband circuitrysimilar to the baseband circuitry of the RAN node to handle radiocontrol functions, and RF circuitry similar to the RF circuitry of theRAN node to enable communication through the wireless connection.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware.

Reliability Enhancement on Control Channel for URLLC

As defined in the specification of the NR wireless communication system,a control resource set (CORESET) is defined, under a given numerology,as a set of resource element groups (REGs) with one or more symboldurations within which a UE attempts to blindly decode DL controlinformation (DCI). Regarding CORESET configuration, a CORESET can becontiguous or non-contiguous in frequency domain. On the other hand, intime domain, a CORESET can be configured with one or a set of contiguousorthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. In addition,for large carrier bandwidth, a maximum time duration of a CORESET mayhave 2 symbols; for narrow carrier bandwidth, a maximum time duration ofa CORESET may have 3 symbols in order to increase NR physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) capacity. Further, as agreed in thespecification of the NR wireless communication system, either time-firstor frequency-first REG-to-CCE (control channel element) mapping issupported for the NR PDCCH.

It is agreed in the specification of the NR wireless communicationsystem that data transmission can have minimum duration of 1 symbol andcan start at any OFDM symbol. Further, a UE can be configured to perform“DL control channel monitoring” per symbol with respect to thenumerology of the DL control channel. In particular, for DL controlchannel monitoring, a UE may be configured with symbol level CORESET orslot level CORESET with certain offset/periodicity in one slot. FIG. 1illustrates one example of slot level CORESET configuration and symbollevel CORESET configuration within a slot. In the slot level CORESETconfiguration, a CORESET is transmitted in a slot using first two orthree symbols. In the symbol level CORESET configuration, a CORESET isdistributed over three separated symbols in one slot so that datatransmission can be scheduled at any time, reducing latency.

A UE may be configured with multiple CORESETs within a bandwidth part(BWP). In case that the time and frequency resource for one CORESET isrelatively limited, reliability of PDCCH transmission may not beguaranteed when PDCCH content which is used to schedule URLLC datatransmission is transmitted in that CORESET. In this case, it may bedesirable to transmit multiple DCIs scheduling the same data channelover different CORESETs to enhance stringent reliability.

Various embodiments of mechanisms to enhance reliability on controlchannel for URLLC in the NR wireless communication system are describedin the following.

As mentioned above, a UE may be configured with multiple CORESETs withina BWP. In case when the time and frequency resource configured for oneCORESET is relatively limited, when PDCCH used to schedule URLLC datatransmission is transmitted in that CORESET, reliability of PDCCHtransmission may not be guaranteed. In this case, it may be desirable totransmit the same DCI over multiple CORESETs to meet stringentreliability requirement for DL control channel.

In one embodiment of this disclosure, multiple PDCCH contents (i.e.,multiple DCIs) are used to schedule transmission of data on the samedata channel (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) andphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)), and can be transmitted inmultiple CORESETs within one or more BWPs. In particular, the DCIs aretransmitted in different CORESETs, respectively. In some embodiments,the DCIs have the same DCI content. In some embodiments, the DCIs mayhave different DCI contents. In some embodiments, the CORESETs may belocated in the same BWP or respectively in different BWPs.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitryof the RAN node are to configure, via a radio resource control (RRC)layer, multiple DCIs for scheduling transmission of one PDSCH content.For each of the DCIs, the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node are to determine a CORESET for transmittingthe DCI. In some embodiments, the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node configures the multiple DCIs that have thesame DCI content for scheduling transmission of the same PDSCH contentwithin one BWP, and to determine different CORESETs within the BWP fortransmitting the DCIs, respectively. In some embodiments, the one ormore processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN node are todetermine one component carrier (CC) for transmitting the DCIs. In someembodiments, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of theRAN node are to determine different component carriers (CCs)respectively for transmitting the DCIs.

Then, the RF interface of the baseband circuitry of the RAN nodereceives downlink data from the one or more processors, including theDCIs, and transmits the DL data to the RF circuitry. In response toreceipt of the DL data, the RF circuitry of the RAN node transmits, tothe UE, the DL data including the DCIs respectively in the CORESETs, andthen transmits the PDSCH content to the UE according to the DCIs.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of multiple PDCCH contents (i.e.,multiple DCIs) transmitted in different CORESETs for scheduling the samePDSCH content. In this example, first and second DCIs are configured toschedule the same PDSCH content, and the first DCI and the second DCIare transmitted in first and second CORESETs, respectively. Inparticular, the first and second CORESETs are located within a same BWP.

In another embodiment, multiple PDCCH contents (i.e., multiple DCIs) forscheduling data transmission on the same data channel can be transmittedin different CCs in carrier aggregation (CA) scenario. FIG. 3illustrates one example of multiple DCIs transmitted in different CCsfor scheduling the same PDSCH content. In this example, first and secondDCIs are transmitted in first and second CCs (CC #1, CC #2),respectively, and are used to schedule the same PDSCH content to betransmitted, for example, in the first CC (CC #1). More specifically,the first DCI is transmitted in a first CORESET in the first CC (CC #1)and the second DCI is transmitted in a second CORESET in the second CC(CC #2). It should be noted that cross-carrier scheduling is employedfor the second DCI in the second CC (CC #2).

Depending on the CORESET configuration, the DCIs or CORESETs may bemultiplexed in a time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM) manner. Further, the DCIs or CORESETs may share thesame time and frequency resource, but may be multiplexed in a spatialdivision multiplexing (SDM) manner. In this case, different beams may beemployed for the transmission of the DCIs.

The RF circuitry of the UE receives the DCIs for scheduling DLtransmission and then, receives the PDSCH content according to the DCIs,and the baseband circuitry of the UE is to selectively perform softcombining of the DCIs. In some embodiments, when the DCIs have the sameDCI content, certain signaling mechanisms can be defined to allow the UEto perform soft combining of the DCIs.

In some embodiments, one or more processors of the baseband circuitry ofthe UE are configured by RRC data specific to the UE to selectivelyperform soft combining of the DCIs. In particular, the RRC data istransmitted from the RAN node to the UE through a higher layer by RRCsignaling. In some embodiments, for performing soft combining of theDCIs, the UE can also be configured by the RRC data to determine theCORESETs in one or different CCs.

In some embodiments, when different DCIs have the same DCI contentpointing to the same PDSCH or PUSCH resource allocation, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry of the UE can be configured by theRRC data, which is transmitted to the UE through the higher layer by RRCsignaling, to process the PDSCH or PUSCH content only once. When some ofthe DCI contents are different, then the UE can be configured to followone of the DCIs. For example, the DCI contents may includeacknowledgement (ACK)/negative acknowledgement (NACK) timing indication,associated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, etc. Forexample, when the PUCCH resources respectively configured to transmitACK/NACK feedbacks respectively for the DCIs are different, then the UEcan be configured to determine whether to utilize only one of the PUCCHresources for transmission or to transmit multiple PUCCH contentsincluding the ACK/NACK feedbacks. In the case that only one PUCCHresource is utilized, which one of the PUCCH resources is utilizedshould be predefined. In one example of pre-definition rule, the UE isconfigured to determine whether the DCI and/or associated PUCCH resourcecorresponds to the primary and/or default BWP and/or CC.

In some embodiments, in order to reduce the number of times the UEexecutes blind decoding and thereby reduce power consumption of the UE,certain PDCCH candidate association among multiple CORESETs or searchspaces can be defined. The association rule among different PDCCHcandidates in different CORESETs or search spaces may be predefined inthe specification or configured by higher layers via NR minimum systeminformation (MSI), NR remaining minimum system information (RMSI), NRother system information (OSI) or radio resource control (RRC)signaling. In some embodiments, the one or more processors of thebaseband circuitry of the UE are to perform soft combining of the DCIsaccording to predefined association among multiple PDCCH candidatesrespectively in different CORESETs.

In one embodiment, the PDCCH candidates on the same aggregation level(AL) with the same index from different search spaces or CORESETs can beassociated for soft-combining. For instance, as shown in FIG. 4 in whichtwo PDCCH candidates are defined for AL4 in each CORESET or searchspace, first and second PDCCH candidates for AL4 in the first CORESET orsearch space (CORESET #1) can be associated with the first and secondPDCCH candidates for AL4 in the second CORESET (CORESET #2) or searchspace, respectively. In other embodiments, PDCCH candidates fromdifferent ALs or different indices in different CORESETs or searchspaces can be associated for soft-combing. It should be noted that onesquare block in FIG. 4 represents one control channel element (CCE).

In some embodiments where the UE is configured with multiple BWPs withinone CC or multiple CCs for CA scenario, the above-mentioned mechanismsfor enhancing reliability on control and data channels can also beapplied to the NR wireless communication system.

Reliability Enhancement on Data Channel for URLLC

Various embodiments of mechanisms for reliability enhancement on datachannel for URLLC in the NR wireless communication system are describedin the following.

In one embodiment, to improve reliability of data channel, multiplePDSCH contents or PUSCH contents with the same information can bescheduled by one or more DCIs. Same redundancy versions (RV) with chasecombining or different RVs with incremental redundancy can be appliedfor transmitting the PDSCH contents or PUSCH contents. It should benoted that the PDSCH contents or PUSCH contents and the DCI(s) may betransmitted in the same or different BWPs within one CC or different CCsin CA scenario.

In one embodiment, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitryof the RAN node configure, via the RRC layer, one or more DCIs forscheduling transmission of multiple PDSCH contents. In particular, thePDSCH contents all have the same information. For each DCI, the one ormore processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN node determine aCORESET for transmitting the DCI.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node configure multiple DCIs that have the same DCIcontent and that are respectively for scheduling transmission ofmultiple PDSCH contents having the same information respectively withindifferent BWPs, and determine multiple CORESETs respectively within theBWPs and respectively for transmitting the DCIs. In some embodiments,the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN nodeconfigure one DCI for scheduling transmission of multiple PDSCH contentshaving the same information respectively within different BWPs, anddetermine a CORESET within one of the BWPs for transmitting the DCI.

Then, the RF interface of the baseband circuitry of the RAN nodereceives downlink data from the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node, including the DCI(s), and transmits the DLdata to the RF circuitry of the RAN node. In response to receipt of theDL data, the RF circuitry of the RAN node transmits each DCI in therespective CORESET to the UE, and then transmits the PDSCH contents tothe UE according to the DCI(s).

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of multiple PDSCH contents (or PUSCHcontents) with the same information scheduled in different BWPs. Inparticular, the PDSCH contents are scheduled using different DCIs,respectively. In the example of FIG. 5, a first DCI in a first BWP (BWP#1) is used to schedule transmission of the PDSCH content in the firstBWP (BWP #1), and a second DCI in a second BWP (BWP #2) is used toschedule transmission of the PDSCH content in the second BWP (BWP #2).FIG. 6 illustrates one example of multiple PDSCH contents with the sameinformation scheduled respectively in different BWPs using one DCI. Inthe example of FIG. 6, the DCI in the first BWP (BWP #1) is used toschedule the PDSCH content in the first BWP (BWP #1) and the PDSCHcontent in the second BWP (BWP #2). In particular, the PDSCH content inthe first BWP (BWP #1) and the PDSCH content in the second BWP (BWP #2)carry the same information.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments of themechanisms for enhancing reliability on data channel for URLLC can beapplied to the case that the same numerology is employed in differentBWPs and to the case that different numerologies are employed indifferent BWPs.

When the multiple PDSCH contents (or PUSCH contents) in different BWPsor CCs carry the same information, the receiver (i.e., the UE for thePDSCH contents or the RAN node for the PUSCH contents) can be configuredto perform soft combining of the PDSCH contents (or PUSCH contents) soas to further improve reliability of data transmission. In oneembodiment, whether to perform soft combing for the PDSCH contents (orPUSCH contents) carrying the same information can be configured byhigher layers via UE specific RRC signaling or indicated by thescheduling DCI or a combination thereof. The scheduling DCI is theDCI(s) used to schedule the PDSCH contents (or PUSCH contents).

The RF circuitry of the UE receives the DCI(s) for scheduling DLtransmission and then, receives the PDSCH contents according to theDCI(s), and the baseband circuitry of the UE is to selectively performsoft combining of the DCIs. In some embodiments, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry of the UE are configured by RRCdata specific to the UE to selectively perform soft combining of thePDSCH contents.

In some embodiments, association between the CCs or BWPs can bepredefined in the specification or configured by higher layers via MSI,RMSI, OSI or RRC signaling or dynamically indicated in the DCI or acombination thereof. For example, a number N of BWPs or CCs can beassociated with each other to allow the receiver to perform soft combingof the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with the same information, where N can bepredefined in the specification or configured by higher layers via MSI,RMSI, OSI or RRC signaling, e.g., N=2. In one embodiment, the receiveris configured by higher layers via RRC signaling to determine which BWPsor CCs can be associated for the transmission of the PDSCH or PUSCHcontents with the same information.

Further, one field in each DCI for scheduling the PDSCH or PUSCHcontents can be used to dynamically indicate whether the PDSCH or PUSCHcontents with the same information are transmitted in the configured CCsor BWPs. The field in the DCI may be a one bit indicator to dynamicallyindicate whether the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with the same informationare transmitted in the configured BWPs or CCs. Alternatively, the fieldmay be a bitmap and each bit in the bitmap can be used to indicatewhether the configured BWPs or CCs are used for the transmission of thePDSCH or PUSCH contents with the same information. In some embodiments,the bit indicator of each DCI can be further used to allow the UE toperform soft combining on these PDSCHs.

It should be noted that the field may be included in one or more DCIsthat are configured to schedule the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with thesame information. In case when multiple DCIs are used for the schedulingof the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with the same information, the fields ofsome of the DCIs may be the same to allow the receiver to further ensurethat soft combining of the PDSCH or PUSCH contents can be performed. Forinstance, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier(ID) and/or a new data indicator (NDI) can be identical among the DCIs.Further, Redundancy version (RV) may be the same or different dependingon whether chase combining or incremental redundancy is employed.

In the case that one DCI is used to schedule the PDSCH or PUSCH contentswith the same information in different BWPs or CCs, same or differentresource allocation information in different BWPs or CCs can be includedin the DCI. The same resource allocation for scheduling the PDSCH orPUSCH contents in different CCs or BWPs can facilitate reducingsignaling overhead. Further, an RV pattern can be defined to furtherreduce the signaling overhead. For instance, the RV pattern on multipleBWPs or CCs can be defined as [0 2 3 1], where RV 0 is used for thePDSCH content in the first BWP or CC and RV 2 is used for the PDSCHcontent in the second BWP or CC, etc. In one embodiment, when themultiple DCIs with the same DCI content pointing to the same PDSCHresource allocation for the downlink transmission, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry of the UE process only one of thePDSCH contents.

In one example, three BWPs (e.g., BWP #0, BWP #1, BWP #2) are configuredfor a given UE, and BWP #0 and BWP #2 are configured, by the RRC layer,to be associated for the transmission of the PDSCH or PUSCH contentswith the same information. Further, a bit indicator can be included inthe DCI(s) for scheduling of the PDSCH or PUSCH contents in BWP #0 andBWP #2. When a value of the bit indicator is “1”, the bit indicatorindicates that the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with the same information aretransmitted in BWP #0 and BWP #2 and a receiver (recipient device) canperform soft combining of the PDSCH or PUSCH contents in these two BWPs.On the other hand, when the value of the bit indicator is “0”, the bitindicator indicates that the PDSCH or PUSCH contents with the sameinformation are not transmitted in BWP #0 and BWP #2 and the receivermay not perform soft combining of the PDSCH or PUSCH contents in thesetwo BWPs.

In another embodiment, the association and consequent combining of thePDSCH or PUSCH contents scheduled by different DCIs can be achievedusing the same HARQ process ID across multiple BWPs or CCs. In suchcase, if a UE receives more than one DCI with the same HARQ process ID,the UE can be configured to assume that the corresponding PDSCH or PUSCHcontents can combined. In a case that the DCIs are received in the sameCC or BWP, the same HARQ process ID can be safely used for theassociation and consequent combining of the PDSCH or PUSCH contents.However, in a case that the DCIs are received in different BWPs and/orCCs, the HARQ process ID can be specific to each BWP/CC, and some HARQprocess IDs can be configured to be shared between the BWPs or CCs.

Support of Low Latency Communication for FDD System

In order to enable low latency transmission for enhanced mobilebroadband communication (e.g., URLLC), self-contained slot structure wasintroduced in NR time division duplex (TDD) system.

To enable low latency transmission for enhanced mobile broadbandcommunication, self-contained slot structure was introduced in NR timedivision duplex (TDD) system. FIG. 7 illustrates one example ofself-contained slot structure in a downlink (DL) channel for the TDDsystem. In particular, the PDSCH content is scheduled by the PDCCHcontent, and is transmitted right after the PDCCH content. A guardperiod (GP) is inserted between the PDSCH content and the PUCCH contentin order to accommodate DL-to-UL switching time or UL-to-DL switchingtime or round-trip propagation delay.

Regarding fully self-contained slot structure, after decoding the PDSCHcontent, the UE feedbacks the HARQ ACK/NACK in the PUCCH content in thelast part of subframe. This type of slot structure may be more desirablefor supporting low latency transmission.

In order to accomplish the self-contained slot structure in the FDDsystem, the PUCCH is used to carry HARQ-ACK feedback for thecorresponding PDSCH transmission in the same slot. Similarly, the PDCCHcontent can be used to schedule transmission of the PUSCH content in thesame slot. FIG. 8 illustrates one example of self-contained slotstructure for the FDD system. As shown in FIG. 8, certain blankresources are reserved in DL and UL. The blank resource in DL allows theUE to process the decoding of the PDSCH content and the HARQ-ACKfeedback on the PUCCH content. The blank resource in UL allows the UE todecode the PDCCH content and transmit the PUSCH content. It can be seenthat resource utilization of a UE using the self-contained slotstructure with single HARQ process as shown in FIG. 8 is lower thanresource utilization of UE using the self-contained slot structure forthe TDD system as shown in FIG. 7. To improve the data rate for a UE, itis desirable to allocate data transmission in the reserved blankresources. Accordingly, the following provides various embodiments ofmechanisms on support of low latency communication for the NR FDDsystem, including non-slot-based scheduling on blank resources and codeblock group (CBG) (re)transmission with separate HARQ-ACK feedback.

Non-Slot-Based Scheduling on Blank Resources

In order to improve peak data rate and spectrum efficiency in the FDDsystem, data transmission can be scheduled in the blank resources of theself-contained slot structure shown in FIG. 8. More specifically,non-slot-based scheduling is provided to schedule the data transmissionwithin the blank resources for same or different UEs in the same slot.The term “non-slot-based scheduling” is related to scheduling of datatransmission having a duration that is relatively short (e.g., one ortwo symbols) in one slot.

The one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN nodeconfigure a DCI for scheduling data transmission using blank resourcesof a self-contained slot structure, and determine a CORESET fortransmitting the DCI in a first slot. In some embodiments, the one ormore processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN node configure afirst DCI for slot-based scheduling of transmission of a PDSCH contentin the first slot, and configure a second DCI for non-slot-basedscheduling of transmission of a second PDSCH content within blankresource of the first slot. In some embodiments, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN node determine theCORESET in the middle of the first slot for transmitting the DCI, andconfigure the DCI for non-slot-based scheduling of transmission of aPUSCH content within blank resource of a second slot immediately next tothe first slot.

FIG. 9 illustrates one example of non-slot-based scheduling on blankresources. In the example shown in FIG. 9, a first PDCCH content (PDCCH#1) is transmitted in the beginning of a first slot for schedulingtransmission of a first PDSCH content (PDSCH #1) (slot-basedscheduling), and a second PDCCH content (PDCCH #2) is transmitted in themiddle of the first slot for scheduling transmission of a second PDSCHcontent (PDSCH #2) (non-slot-based scheduling). In particular, fornon-slot-based scheduling, the second PDCCH content (PDCCH #2) istransmitted within the blank resource of the first slot for schedulingtransmission of the second PDSCH content (PDSCH #2) in the blankresource of the first slot. As a result, for DL transmission,non-slot-based scheduling can be used to fill in the blank resource.Further, a first PUCCH content (PUCCH #1) carrying HARQ-ACK feedback forthe slot-based scheduling of the first PDSCH content (PDSCH #1) can betransmitted in the last part of the first slot. In addition, a secondPUCCH content (PUCCH #2) carrying HARQ-ACK feedback for non-slot-basedscheduling of the second PDSCH content (PDSCH #2) can be transmitted inthe middle or last part of a second slot that is immediately next to thefirst slot. It should be noted that each of the first and second PUCCHcontents (PUCCH #1, PUCCH #2) can be in either a short PUCCH format or along PUCCH format.

As currently defined in the specification for the NR system, a PDSCHdemodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to demodulate the PDSCHcontent is transmitted in the third or fourth symbol of the slot whenthe PDSCH content is scheduled by slot-based scheduling. On the otherhand, when a PDSCH content is scheduled by non-slot-based scheduling, aPDSCH DMRS is transmitted in the first symbol of the PDSCH content. Forexample, transmission of a first PDSCH content follows slot-basedscheduling at least with respect to location of a first PDSCH DMRS thatis transmitted in the third or fourth symbol of the slot, andtransmission of a second PDSCH content may follow non-slot-basedscheduling at least with respect to location of a second PDSCH DMRS inthe first symbol of the second PDSCH content. Alternatively, in the casethat the second PDSCH content is quasi-co-located with the first PDSCHcontent (e.g., transmitted by the same antenna port), the second PDSCHcontent may not contain any DMRS and can be demodulated according to thePDSCH DMRS included in the first PDSCH content. The latter case is moresuitable for a joint time-domain resource allocation indication for themultiple PDSCH contents. In another embodiment, both PDSCH contents mayfollow non-slot-based scheduling at least with respect to the locationof the DMRS that is transmitted in the first symbol of the PDSCH.

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of non-slot-based scheduling onblank resources. In the example of FIG. 10, a first PDCCH content (PDCCH#1) is transmitted in the middle of a first slot for schedulingtransmission of a first PUSCH content (PUSCH #1) in the blank resourceof a second slot that is immediately next to the first slot(non-slot-based scheduling). Further, a second PDCCH content (PDCCH #2)is transmitted in the beginning of the second slot for schedulingtransmission of a second PUSCH content (PUSCH #2) in the second slot.Similarly, for UL transmission, non-slot-based scheduling can be used tofill in the blank resource. Further, cross-symbol or cross-slotscheduling can be used for UL transmission.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node configure the DCI for scheduling uplink datatransmission in two successive slots across slot boundary between thetwo slots. The UL data transmission may be scheduled across the slotboundary. FIG. 11 illustrates one example of UL data transmission acrossslot boundary to fill the blank resource at the beginning of a slot. Inthis example, the UL data transmission spans two successive slots (e.g.,slot n and slot n+1). In particular, in slot n, the UL data transmissionis scheduled from the k^(th) symbol to the last symbol of slot n (i.e.,symbol #13). In slot n+1, the UL data transmission is scheduled from thefirst symbol (symbol #0) to the (k−1)^(th) symbol, filling the blankresource in slot n+1.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors of the basebandcircuitry of the RAN node configure the DCI for scheduling first uplinkdata transmission in a first slot (e.g., slot n) and scheduling seconduplink data transmission in blank resource of a second slot (e.g., slotn+1) that is immediately next to the first slot (multi-PUSCHscheduling). Using multi-PUSCH scheduling to schedule the second UL datatransmission can fill the blank resource at the beginning of the secondslot. FIG. 12 illustrates one example of UL data transmission usingmulti-PUSCH scheduling. In the example of FIG. 12, the DCI included inthe PDCCH content is configured to schedule UL data transmission of afirst PUSCH content (PUSCH #1) in slot n, and UL data transmission of asecond PUSCH content (PUSCH #2) in slot n+1. In particular, the firstPUSCH content (PUSCH #1) and the second PUSCH content (PUSCH #2) havedifferent information.

CBG Based Transmission with Separate HARQ-ACK Feedback

To further improve the data rate for a UE, code block group (CBG)(re)transmission can be employed. As agreed in NR, CBG basedtransmission and retransmission can be configured for a given UE bothfor DL data transmission and UL data transmission. In addition, thenumber of CBGs for a transport block (TB) can be configured for a UE.FIG. 13 illustrates one example of CBG based transmission andretransmission. As shown in FIG. 13, one transport block includes 12code blocks with code block indices “0” to “11”, and a size for bundlingHARQ-ACK feedback is 4. In this case, three HARQ-ACK bits are used toindicate whether three CBGs (CBG0, CBG1, CBG2) are successfully decoded,where each CBG contains 4 code blocks.

To enable low latency transmission, multiple separate PUCCH contents canbe employed to carry the HARQ-ACK feedback for multiple parts of CBGs,respectively. In this regard, the RAN node configures only one DCI fordata scheduling, which can help reduce signaling overhead and therebyimprove the data throughput compared to the option with non-slot-basedscheduling over blank resources. In one embodiment, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN node configure one DCIfor scheduling data transmission of a TB, and divide the TB into aplurality of CBGs. In one embodiment, the one or more processors of thebaseband circuitry of the RAN node group the CBGs into a first part ofCBGs and a second part of CBGs, and the UE transmits, to the RAN node afirst PUCCH content carrying HARQ feedback for the first part of CBGsand a second PUCCH content carrying HARQ feedback for the second part ofCBGs.

The RF interface of the baseband circuitry of the UE receives the DCIfor scheduling data transmission of the TB and then receives a pluralityof CBGs of the TB according to the DCI, and the one or more processorsof the baseband circuitry of the UE decode the CBGs and configure uplinkcontrol data to carry separate HARQ feedback for the CBGs. In oneembodiment, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of theUE configure the uplink control data to include multiple bits torespectively indicate whether the CBGs are successfully decoded. In oneembodiment, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of theUE configure the uplink control data to include a first PUCCH contentcarrying HARQ feedback for the first part of the CBGs, and a secondPUCCH content carrying HARQ feedback for the second part of the CBGs.

FIG. 14 illustrates one example of CBG based transmission with separateHARQ-ACK feedback according to one embodiment. In the example, it isassumed that three CBGs (i.e., CBG0, CBG1, CBG2) are configured byhigher layers, and a first part of CBGs includes CBG0 and CBG1 and asecond part of CBGs includes CBG2. In this case, a first PUCCH content(PUCCH #1) carries the HARQ-ACK feedback for the first part of CBGsincluding CBG #0 and CBG #1, and a second PUCCH content (PUCCH #2)carries the HARQ-ACK feedback for the second part of CBGs including CBG#2. It should be noted that a PDCCH content carrying the DCI isconfigured to schedule PDSCH transmission with the first part of CBGsand the second part of CBGs.

In the specification defined for the NR system, for each code block(CB), a CB-level cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is attached to the CB. Inone embodiment, in addition to CB-level CRCs respectively for all CBs,multiple CBG-level CRCs are attached respectively to the multiple partsof CBGs and a TB-level CRC is attached to the TB. In this embodiment,the UE reports a NACK when all CB-level CRCs pass but any CBG-level CRCfails in the corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback report. In anotherembodiment, only CB-level CRC, with or without introduction of CBG-levelCRC, is used for both parts of CBGs.

In some embodiments, the PDSCH transmission can be defined as schedulingof multiple PDSCH contents (multi-PDSCH scheduling) using a single DCI,such that these PDSCH contents follow a common frequency and spatialdomain resource allocation and modulation coding scheme (MCS) withpossibly different time domain allocations. This configuration mayprovide functionality similar to CBG-based (re)transmission withoutnecessarily configuring CBG-based (re)transmission. In one embodiment,in addition to the CB-level CRCs, TB-level CRC is present in each of thePDSCH contents, and the UE reports ACK/NACK feedback corresponding toeach of the PDSCH contents via the resource for corresponding PUCCHtransmission. To support such scheduling assignment, in one embodiment,the DCI includes two separate indications related to the time-domainresource allocation covering the PDSCH contents, respectively. Inanother embodiment, the DCI indicates the overall time domain resourceallocation covering both PDSCH contents, and additionally, a parameterindicating that the end of transmission of the first PDSCH content orstart of transmission of the second PDSCH content is present in the DCIwhen the UE is configured to use multiple-PDSCH scheduling. It should benoted that the above mechanism for multi-PDSCH scheduling can be appliedto the multi-PUSCH scheduling shown in FIG. 12. More specifically, oneDCI can be used to schedule one TB in PUSCH transmission in slot n andanother TB in PUSCH transmission in slot n+1.

In one embodiment, for partitioning of a PDSCH content into two groupsof CBGs, the same HARQ process ID is applied to both parts. In thisembodiment, retransmission of the individual parts of CBGs can beimplemented via CBG-based retransmission such that retransmission ofboth parts of CBGs is always indicated by the same DCI indicatingCBG-based retransmission.

In one embodiment, when a single DCI is configured to schedule multiplePDSCH contents with possibly different durations, different HARQ processIDs are signaled for the scheduled PDSCH contents, respectively. In thisembodiment, retransmission of the individual parts of CBGs can bescheduled by separate DCIs. Specifically, when both the first and secondparts of CBGs fail, the first part of CBGs and the second part of CBGsmay be scheduled for retransmission as either two parts of CBGs (i.e.,first and second PDSCH contents) by two separate DCIs or as a singlePDSCH content scheduled by a separate DCI.

The partition between the first part of CBGs and the second part of CBGscan be predefined in the specification for the NR system or may beconfigured by higher layers via NR minimum system information (MSI), NRremaining minimum system information (RMSI), NR other system information(OSI), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or dynamicallyindicated in the scheduling or a separate DCI or a combination thereof.Alternatively, the partition between the first part of CBGs and thesecond part of CBGs can be determined in accordance with the configurednumber of CBGs.

Given that one DCI is used to schedule the CBG based transmission,embodiments of resource allocation for the transmission of the first andsecond PUCCH contents are provided as follows.

In one embodiment, resource allocation for the transmission of the firstand second PUCCH contents is explicitly and independently indicated inthe same DCI. More specifically, a set of resources in time, frequencyand/or code domain can be configured by higher layers, and twoindependent fields in the DCI can be used to indicate which resourcefrom the set of configured resources is to be used for the transmissionof the first and second PUCCH contents. The one or more processors ofthe baseband circuitry of the RAN node configure the DCI to indicateresource allocation for transmission of the first PUCCH content and thesecond PUCCH content.

In one embodiment, resource allocation for the transmission of the firstPUCCH content is explicitly indicated in the DCI, and the resourceallocation for the transmission of the second PUCCH content may beimplicit and derivable from the resource allocation for the first PUCCHcontent. It should be noted that a set of resources in time, frequencyand/or code domain can be configured by higher layers, and one field inthe DCI can be used to indicate which resource from the set ofconfigured resources is to be used for the transmission of the firstPUCCH content. The one or more processors of the baseband circuitry ofthe UE allocate resource for transmission of the first PUCCH contentaccording to the DCI, and derive resource allocation for transmission ofthe second PUCCH content from resource allocation for the first PUCCHcontent.

In one embodiment, one field in the DCI is used to indicate the resourcein frequency and/or code domain from a set of resources which areconfigured by higher layers for the transmission of the first PUCCHcontent. Further, same resource in frequency and/or code domain for thetransmission of the first PUCCH content can be used for the transmissionof the second PUCCH content.

For time domain resource, the HARQ-ACK delay for the transmission of thefirst PUCCH content is indicated in the DCI, and the HARQ-ACK delay forthe transmission of the second PUCCH content can be derived from theHARQ-ACK delay for the first PUCCH content or explicitly indicated inthe DCI. In one embodiment, there is a K-symbol delay between thetransmission of the first PUCCH content and the transmission of thesecond PUCCH content, where K can be predefined in the specification forthe NR system or configured by higher layers via MSI, RMSI, OSI or RRCsignaling. In another embodiment, the delay between the transmission ofthe first PUCCH content and the transmission of the second PUCCH contentis defined as a function of the duration of the second part of the PDSCHcontent.

It should be noted that the above mechanism can be straightforwardlyextended for UL data transmission, where CBG based (re)transmission andmulti-PUSCH scheduling can be employed to fill in the gap (blankresource) at the beginning of a slot.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of an apparatus 1500 operable forultra-reliable and low-latency communication according to someembodiments of this disclosure. For example, the apparatus 1500 may beincluded in a user equipment (UE) or a radio access network (RAN) node.In this embodiment, the apparatus 1500 includes application circuitry1510, baseband circuitry 1520, radio frequency (RF) circuitry 1530,front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1540, one or more antennas 1550 (onlyone is depicted) and power management circuitry (PMC) 1560. In someembodiments, the apparatus 1500 may include fewer components. Forexample, a RAN node may not include the application circuitry 1510, andinstead include a processor/controller to process Internet-Protocol (IP)data received from an evolved packet core (EPC) network. In otherembodiments, the apparatus 1500 may include additional components, forexample, a memory/storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor or aninput/output (I/O) interface. In some embodiments, the above-mentionedcomponents may be included in more than one device. For example, inorder to implement a Cloud-RAN architecture, the above-mentionedcircuitries may be separated and included in two or more devices in theCloud-RAN architecture.

The application circuitry 1510 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 1510 may include, butis not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Theprocessors may include any combination of general-purpose processors anddedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors,etc.). The processors may be coupled to or include a memory/storagemodule, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage module to enable various applications or operatingsystems to run on the apparatus 1500. In some embodiments, theprocessors of the application circuitry 1510 may process IP data packetsreceived from an EPC network.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1520 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1520 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), or a wireless personal area network (WPAN).In some embodiments where the baseband circuitry 1520 is configured tosupport radio communication using more than one wireless protocol, thebaseband circuitry 1520 may be referred to as a multi-mode basebandcircuitry.

The baseband circuitry 1520 may include, but is not limited to, one ormore single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1520may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to processbaseband signals received from the RF circuitry 1530, and to generatebaseband signals to be transmitted to the RF circuitry 1530. Thebaseband circuitry 1520 may interface and communicate with theapplication circuitry 1510 for generation and processing of the basebandsignals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1530.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1520 may include a thirdgeneration (3G) baseband processor (3G BBP) 1521, a fourth generation(4G) baseband processor (4G BBP) 1522, a fifth generation (5G) basebandprocessor (5G BBP) 1523 and other baseband processor(s) 1524 for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.).The baseband processors 1521-1524 of the baseband circuitry 1520 areconfigured to handle various radio control functions that enablecommunication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1530.In other embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1520 may further include acentral processing unit (CPU) 1525 and a memory 1526, and some or allfunctionality (e.g., the radio control functions) of the basebandprocessors 1521-1524 may be implemented as software modules that arestored in the memory 1526 and executed by the CPU 1525 to carry out thefunctionality. The radio control functions of the baseband processors1521-1524 may include, but are not limited to, signalmodulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting,etc. In some embodiments, the signal modulation/demodulation includesFast-Fourier Transform (FFT), pre-coding or constellationmapping/de-mapping. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding includesconvolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low DensityParity Check (LDPC) encoding/decoding. Embodiments of the signalmodulation/demodulation and the encoding/decoding are not limited tothese examples and may include other suitable operations in otherembodiments. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1520 mayfurther include an audio digital signal processor (DSP) 1527 forcompression/decompression and echo cancellation.

In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuitry 1520 maybe integrated as a single chip or a single chipset, or may be disposedon a single circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 1520 and theapplication circuitry 1510 may be integrated as, for example, a systemon chip (SoC).

The RF circuitry 1530 is configured to enable communication withwireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through anon-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1530 mayinclude switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communicationwith the wireless network. The RF circuitry 1530 may include a receivesignal path that includes circuitry to down-convert RF signals receivedfrom the FEM circuitry 1540 and to provide the baseband signals to thebaseband circuitry 1520. The RF circuitry 1530 may further include atransmit signal path that includes circuitry to up-convert the basebandsignals provided by the baseband circuitry 1520 and to provide RF outputsignals to the FEM circuitry 1540 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1530may include mixer circuitry 1531, amplifier circuitry 1532 and filtercircuitry 1533. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 1530 may include filter circuitry 1533 and mixer circuitry1531. The RF circuitry 1530 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1534for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1531 of thereceive signal path and/or the transmit signal path.

For the receive signal path, in some embodiments, the mixer circuitry1531 may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 1540 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 1534. The amplifier circuitry 1532 may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals. The filter circuitry1533 may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF)configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals togenerate output baseband signals. The output baseband signals may beprovided to the baseband circuitry 1520 for further processing. In someembodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency basebandsignals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1531 of the receive signal path may include passivemixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

As for the transmit signal path, in some embodiments, the mixercircuitry 1531 may be configured to up-convert input baseband signalsbased on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry1534 to generate the RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1540. Theinput baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1520,and may be filtered by the filter circuitry 1533.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1531 of the receive signal pathand the mixer circuitry 1531 of the transmit signal path may include twoor more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion in thereceive signal path and for quadrature up-conversion in the transmitsignal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1531 of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1531 of the transmit signalpath may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for imagerejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 1531 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry1531 of the transmit signal path may be arranged for directdown-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1531 of the receive signal path and themixer circuitry 1531 of the transmit signal path may be configured forsuper-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In alternative embodiments,the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may bedigital baseband signals. In such alternative embodiments, the RFcircuitry 1530 may further include analog-to-digital converter (ADC)circuitry and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and thebaseband circuitry 1520 may include a digital baseband interface tocommunicate with the RF circuitry 1530.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1534 may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, the synthesizercircuitry 1534 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier,or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency dividerin other embodiments.

The synthesizer circuitry 1534 may be configured to synthesize an outputfrequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1531 of the RF circuitry 1530based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In someembodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlledoscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. In someembodiments, the divider control input may be provided by either thebaseband circuitry 1520 or the application circuitry 1510 depending onthe desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider controlinput (e.g., N) may be determined according to a look-up table based ona channel indicated by the application circuitry 1510.

The synthesizer circuitry 1534 of the RF circuitry 1530 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide an input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some embodiments, the DLL mayinclude a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, acharge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delayelements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equalpackets of phase, where Nd is a number of the delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1534 may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 1530 may include an IQ/polar converter.

The FEM circuitry 1540 may include a receive signal path that includescircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from the one ormore antennas 1550, to amplify the received RF signals and to provideamplified versions of the received RF signals to the RF circuitry 1530for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1540 may further include atransmit signal path that includes circuitry configured to amplifysignals provided by the RF circuitry 1530 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 1550. In various embodiments, theamplification through the transmit or receive signal path may be donesolely in the RF circuitry 1530, solely in the FEM circuitry 1540, or inboth the RF circuitry 1530 and the FEM circuitry 1540.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1540 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode operation and receive mode operation.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1540 may include alow-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signals and toprovide the amplified versions of the received RF signals as an output(e.g., to the RF circuitry 1530). The transmit signal path of the FEMcircuitry 1540 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RFsignals (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry 1530), and one or morefilters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by oneor more of the one or more antennas 1550).

In some embodiments, the PMC 1560 is configured to manage power providedto the baseband circuitry 1520. In particular, the PMC 1560 may controlpower-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DCconversion. The PMC 1560 may often be included in the apparatus 1500when the apparatus 1500 is capable of being powered by a battery. Forexample, when the apparatus 1500 is included in a UE, it generallyincludes the PMC 1560. The PMC 1560 may increase the power conversionefficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heatdissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 15 shows the PMC 1560 being coupled only with the basebandcircuitry 1520, in other embodiments, the PMC 1560 may be additionallyor alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power managementoperations for, other components such as, but not limited to, theapplication circuitry 1510, the RF circuitry 1530 or the FEM 1540.

In some embodiments, the PMC 1560 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the apparatus 1500. For example, ifthe apparatus 1500 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the apparatus 1500 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time,then the apparatus 1500 may enter an RRC_Idle state, where itdisconnects from network and does not perform operations such as channelquality feedback, handover, etc. The apparatus 1500 goes into a very lowpower state and it performs paging where it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The apparatus 1500 maynot receive data in this state. In order to receive data, the apparatus1500 transitions back to the RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device or apparatus to beunavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval(ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device orapparatus is totally unreachable to the network and may power downcompletely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and itis assumed the delay is acceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 1510 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 1520 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 1520, alone or in combination, may be used to execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 1510 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from theselayers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmissioncommunication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers).As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control(RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein,Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described infurther detail below.

FIG. 16 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry inaccordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the basebandcircuitry 1520 of FIG. 15 includes various processors (i.e., thebaseband processors 1521-1524 and the CPU 1525), and the memory 1526utilized by the processors. Each of the processors 1521-1525 may includean internal memory interface (MEM I/F) 1601-1605 communicatively coupledto the memory 1526 so as to send/receive data to/from the memory 1526.

The baseband circuitry 1520 may further include one or more interfacesto communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices. The one or moreinterfaces include, for example, a memory interface (MEM I/F) 1606(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 1520), an application circuitry interface (APP I/F)1607 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the applicationcircuitry 1510 of FIG. 15), an RF circuitry interface (RF I/F) 1608(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the RF circuitry 1530of FIG. 15), a wireless hardware connectivity interface (W-HW I/F) 1609(e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near FieldCommunication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth®Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and/or other communication components),and a power management interface (PM I/F) 1610 (e.g., an interface tosend/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 1560 of FIG. 15).

FIG. 17 illustrates an architecture of a system 1700 of a network inaccordance with some embodiments of this disclosure. The system 1700 isshown to include a user equipment (UE) 1701 and a UE 1702. The UEs 1701and 1702 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asPersonal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktopcomputers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including awireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, at least one of the UEs 1701 and 1702 may be anInternet-of-Things (IoT) UE, which can include a network access layerdesigned for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UEconnections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such asmachine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) forexchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobilenetwork (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device(D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTCexchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoTnetwork describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquelyidentifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internetinfrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may executebackground applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates,etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 1701 and 1702 may be configured to connect, e.g.,communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 1710. The RAN1710 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN(NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 1701 and 1702 utilizeconnections 1703 and 1704, respectively. Each of the connections 1703and 1704 includes a physical communications interface or layer(discussed in further detail below). In this embodiment, the connections1703 and 1704 are illustrated as an air interface to enablecommunicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellularcommunications protocols, such as a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA)network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular(POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation(5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 1701 and 1702 may further directly exchangecommunication data via a ProSe interface 1705. The ProSe interface 1705may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface including oneor more logical channels. The one or more logical channels include, butare not limited to, a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), aPhysical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink DiscoveryChannel (PSDCH) and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 1702 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)1706 via connection 1707. The connection 1707 may include a localwireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1706 may include a wireless fidelity(WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 1706 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to a core network 1720 of the wirelesssystem 1700 (described in further detail below).

The RAN 1710 can include one or more access nodes that enable theconnections 1703 and 1704. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred toas base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next GenerationNodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can include ground stations(e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providingcoverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some embodiments,the RAN 1710 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells,e.g., macro RAN node 1711, and one or more RAN nodes for providingfemtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas,smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells),e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 1712.

Any one of the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712 can terminate the air interfaceprotocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 1701 and1702. In some embodiments, any one of the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712 canfulfill various logical functions for the RAN 1710 including, but notlimited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radiobearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource managementand data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

According to some embodiments, the UEs 1701 and 1702 can be configuredto communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM)communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 1711and 1712 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance withvarious communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, anOrthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communicationtechnique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single CarrierFrequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique(e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications). It is notedthat the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. TheOFDM signals may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any one of the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712 to the UEs1701 and 1702, while uplink transmissions can utilize similartechniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resourcegrid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource inthe downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation isa common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radioresource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource gridcorresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively.The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to oneslot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resourcegrid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid includes anumber of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certainphysical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes acollection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this mayrepresent the smallest quantity of resources that can currently beallocated. There are several different physical downlink channels thatare conveyed using such resource blocks.

The PDSCH may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 1701and 1702. The PDCCH may carry information about the transport format andresource allocations related to the PDSCH, among other things. The PDCCHmay also inform the UEs 1701 and 1702 about the transport format,resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request)information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlinkscheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to a UEwithin a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712based on channel quality information fed back from any one of the UEs1701 and 1702. The downlink resource assignment information may be senton the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1701 and 1702.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the controlinformation. Before being mapped to resource elements, PDCCHcomplex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, whichmay then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching.Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, whereeach CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can betransmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of thedownlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There canbe four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with differentnumbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physicaldownlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for controlinformation transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one ormore enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, eachECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elementsknown as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). One of the ECCEs mayhave other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 1710 is shown to be communicatively coupled to the core network(CN) 1720 via an S1 interface 1713. In some embodiments, the CN 1720 maybe an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC)network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface1713 is split into two parts, including an S1-U interface 1714 and anS1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 1715. The S1-U interface1714 carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712 and aserving gateway (S-GW) 1722. The S1-MME interface 1715 is a signalinginterface between the RAN nodes 1711 and 1712 and MMEs 1721.

In this embodiment, the CN 1720 includes the MMEs 1721, the S-GW 1722, aPacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 1723, and a home subscriberserver (HSS) 1724. The MMEs 1721 may be similar in function to thecontrol plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 1721 may manage mobility aspects inaccess such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. TheHSS 1724 may include a database for network users, includingsubscription-related information to support the network entities'handling of communication sessions. The CN 1720 may include one orseveral HSSs 1724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on thecapacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. Forexample, the HSS 1724 can provide support for routing/roaming,authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, locationdependencies, etc.

The S-GW 1722 terminates the S1 interface 1713 towards the RAN 1710, androutes data packets between the RAN 1710 and the CN 1720. In addition,the S-GW 1722 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN nodehandovers, and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Otherresponsibilities of the S-GW 1722 may include lawful intercept,charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 1723 terminates an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 1723routes data packets between the CN 1720 (e.g., the EPC network) andexternal networks such as a network including an application server 1730(alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an InternetProtocol (IP) interface 1725. Generally, the application server 1730 maybe an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources withthe core network 1720 (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PSdata services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 1723 is shown to becommunicatively coupled to the application server 1730 via the IPinterface 1725. The application server 1730 can also be configured tosupport one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-InternetProtocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions,social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 1701 and 1702 via the CN1720.

In some embodiments, the P-GW 1723 may further be a node for policyenforcement and charging data collection. The CN 1720 may furtherinclude a policy and charging control element (e.g., Policy and ChargingEnforcement Function (PCRF) 1726). In a non-roaming scenario, there maybe a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN)associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network(IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic,there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a HomePCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within aVisited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 1726 may becommunicatively coupled to the application server 1730 via the P-GW1723. The application server 1730 may signal the PCRF 1726 to indicate anew service flow and select appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) andcharging parameters. The PCRF 1726 may provision this rule into a Policyand Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with appropriatetraffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), whichcommences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server1730.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a control plane protocol stackaccording to some embodiments of this disclosure. In the example of FIG.18, a control plane 1800 is shown as a communications protocol stackbetween the UE 1701 (or alternatively, the UE 1702), the RAN node 1711(or alternatively, the RAN node 1712), and the MME 1721.

The PHY layer 1801 may transmit or receive information used by the MAClayer 1802 over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layer 1801 mayfurther perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC),power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization andhandover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers, suchas the RRC layer 1805. The PHY layer 1801 may still further performerror detection on the transport channels, forward error correction(FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, modulation/demodulationof physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physicalchannels, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna processing.

The MAC layer 1802 may perform mapping between logical channels andtransport channels, multiplexing of MAC service data units (SDUs) fromone or more logical channels onto transport blocks (TB) to be deliveredto the PHY layer 1801 via transport channels, de-multiplexing MAC SDUsto one or more logical channels from transport blocks (TB) deliveredfrom the PHY layer 1801 via transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUsonto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction throughhybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), and logical channelprioritization.

The RLC layer 1803 may operate in a plurality of modes of operation,including Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM) andAcknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC layer 1803 may execute transfer of upperlayer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automaticrepeat request (ARQ) for AM data transfers, and concatenation,segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transfers.The RLC layer 1803 may also execute re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs forAM data transfers, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transfers,detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transfers, discard RLC SDUs forUM and AM data transfers, detect protocol errors for AM data transfers,and perform RLC re-establishment.

The PDCP layer 1804 may execute header compression and decompression ofIP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-sequencedelivery of upper layer PDUs at re-establishment of lower layers,eliminate duplicates of lower layer SDUs at re-establishment of lowerlayers for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher controlplane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification ofcontrol plane data, control timer-based discard of data, and performsecurity operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection,integrity verification, etc.).

The main services and functions of the RRC layer 1805 may includebroadcast of system information (e.g., included in Master InformationBlocks (MIBs) or System Information Blocks (SIBs) related to thenon-access stratum (NAS)), broadcast of system information related tothe access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and releaseof an RRC connection between the UE 1701 or 1702 and the E-UTRAN (e.g.,RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connectionmodification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration,maintenance and release of point-to-point radio bearers, securityfunctions including key management, inter radio access technology (RAT)mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting.Said MIBs and SIBs may include one or more information elements (IEs),which may each comprise individual data fields or data structures.

The UE 1701 and the RAN node 1711 of FIG. 17 may utilize a Uu interface(e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via aprotocol stack including the PHY layer 1801, the MAC layer 1802, the RLClayer 1803, the PDCP layer 1804 and the RRC layer 1805.

The non-access stratum (NAS) protocols 1806 form the highest stratum ofthe control plane between the UE 1701 or 1702 and the MME 1721. The NASprotocols 1806 support the mobility of the UE 1701 or 1702 and thesession management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivitybetween the UE 1701 or 1702 and the P-GW 1723 (see FIG. 17).

The S1 Application Protocol (S1-AP) layer 1815 may support the functionsof the S1 interface, and include Elementary Procedures (EPs). An EP is aunit of interaction between the RAN node 1711 or 1712 and the CN 1720(see FIG. 17). The S1-AP layer 1815 provides services that may includetwo groups, i.e., UE-associated services and non UE-associated services.These services perform functions including, but not limited to, E-UTRANRadio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication,mobility, NAS signaling transport, RAN Information Management (RIM), andconfiguration transfer.

A Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer 1814 may ensurereliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 1711 or1712 and the MME 1721 based, in part, on the IP protocol supported bythe IP layer 1813. An L2 layer 1812 and an L1 layer 1811 may refer tocommunication links (e.g., wired or wireless) used by the RAN node 1711or 1712 and the MME 1721 to exchange information.

The RAN node 1711 and the MME 1721 may utilize an S1-MME interface toexchange control plane data via a protocol stack including the L1 layer1811, the L2 layer 1812, the IP layer 1813, the SCTP layer 1814, and theS1-AP layer 1815.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a user plane protocol stack accordingto some embodiments of this disclosure. In this example, a user plane1900 is shown as a communications protocol stack between the UE 1701 (oralternatively, the UE 1702), the RAN node 1711 (or alternatively, theRAN node 1712), the S-GW 1722, and the P-GW 1723. The user plane 1900may utilize at least some of the same protocol layers as the controlplane 1800 of FIG. 18. For example, the UE 1701 or 1702 and the RAN node1711 or 1712 may utilize a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) toexchange user plane data via a protocol stack also including a PHY layer1801, a MAC layer 1802, an RLC layer 1803 and a PDCP layer 1804 (seeFIG. 18). The protocol stack for the UE 1701 or 1702 may further includean IP layer 1913.

A General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for the userplane (GTP-U) layer 1904 may be used for carrying user data within theGPRS core network and between the radio access network and the corenetwork. The user data transported can be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6,or PPP formats. A UDP and IP security (UDP/IP) layer 1903 may providechecksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing differentfunctions at the source and destination, and encryption andauthentication on the selected data flows. The RAN node 1711 or 1712 andthe S-GW 1722 may utilize an S1-U interface to exchange user plane datavia a protocol stack including the L1 layer 1811, the L2 layer 1812, theUDP/IP layer 1903, and the GTP-U layer 1904. The S-GW 1722 and the P-GW1723 may utilize an S5/S8a interface to exchange user plane data via aprotocol stack including the L1 layer 1811, the L2 layer 1812, theUDP/IP layer 1903, and the GTP-U layer 1904. The protocol stack for theP-GW 1723 may further include the IP layer 1913. As discussed above withrespect to FIG. 18, NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE 1701 or1702 and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IPconnectivity between the UE 1701 or 1702 and the P-GW 1723.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 20 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 2000 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 2010, one or more memory/storage devices2020, and one or more communication resources 2030, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 2040. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 2002 may beexecuted to provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 2000.

The processors 2010 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit(RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) mayinclude, for example, a processor 2012 and a processor 2014.

The memory/storage devices 2020 may include main memory, disk storage,or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 2020 mayinclude, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 2030 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 2004 or one or more databases 2006 via anetwork 2008. For example, the communication resources 2030 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components,Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components,and other communication components.

Instructions 2050 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 2010 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. The instructions 2050 may reside, completely orpartially, within at least one of the processors 2010 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 2020, or anysuitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of theinstructions 2050 may be transferred to the hardware resources 2000 fromany combination of the peripheral devices 2004 or the databases 2006.Accordingly, the memory of processors 2010, the memory/storage devices2020, the peripheral devices 2004, and the databases 2006 are examplesof computer-readable and machine-readable media.

EXAMPLES

The following examples pertain to specific technology embodiments andpoint out specific features, elements, or actions that can be used orotherwise combined in achieving such embodiments.

Example 1 is an apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node forultra-reliable low-latency communication. The apparatus includesbaseband circuitry that includes one or more processors to configure,via a radio resource control (RRC) layer, at least one downlink controlinformation (DCI) for scheduling transmission of at least one physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH) content, where each of the at least onePDSCH content has same information. For each of the at least one DCI,the one or more processors are to determine a control resource set(CORESET) for transmitting the DCI. The baseband circuitry furtherincludes a radio frequency (RF) interface to receive downlink data fromthe one or more processors, including the at least one DCI.

Example 2 is the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the at least oneDCI to include multiple DCIs that have the same DCI content forscheduling transmission of the same PDSCH content within one bandwidthpart, and to determine different CORESETs within the bandwidth partrespectively for transmitting the DCIs.

Example 3 is the apparatus of Example 2, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to determine one componentcarrier for transmitting the DCIs.

Example 4 is the apparatus of Example 2, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to determine differentcomponent carriers respectively for transmitting the DCIs.

Example 5 is the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the at least oneDCI to include multiple DCIs that have same DCI content and that arerespectively for scheduling transmission of multiple PDSCH contentshaving same information respectively within different bandwidth parts,and to determine multiple CORESETs respectively within the bandwidthparts and respectively for transmitting the DCIs.

Example 6 is the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the at least oneDCI to include one DCI for scheduling transmission of multiple PDSCHcontents having same information respectively within different bandwidthparts, and to determine the CORESET within one of the bandwidth partsfor transmitting the DCI.

Example 7 is the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the RF interface is toprovide the at least one DCI and the at least one PDSCH content to atransmitter for transmission to a user equipment (UE), and the one ormore processors are further to indicate to the UE, by RRC data specificto the UE, as to whether to perform soft combining of the at least oneDCI and whether to perform soft combining of the at least one PDSCHcontent.

Example 8 is an apparatus of user equipment (UE) for ultra-reliablelow-latency communication. The apparatus includes baseband circuitrythat includes a radio frequency (RF) interface to receive at least onedownlink control information (DCI) for scheduling downlink transmission,and to receive at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)content each having same information according to the at least one DCI.The baseband circuitry further includes one or more processors toselectively perform soft combining of the at least one DCI andselectively perform soft combining of the at least one PDSCH content.

Example 9 is the apparatus of Example 8, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are configured by radio resourcecontrol (RRC) data specific to the UE to selectively perform softcombining of the at least one DCI and to selectively perform softcombining of the at least one PDSCH content.

Example 10 is the apparatus of Example 8, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to selectively perform softcombining of the at least one PDSCH content according to the at leastone DCI.

Example 11 is the apparatus of Example 10, wherein, when the at leastone DCI has multiple DCIs with the same DCI content pointing to samePDSCH resource allocation for the downlink transmission, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to process only one of the atleast one PDSCH content.

Example 12 is the apparatus of Example 10, wherein, when the at leastone DCI has multiple DCIs with different DCI contents, the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to process the at least onePDSCH content according to one of the DCIs.

Example 13 is the apparatus of Example 8, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to perform soft combining ofthe at least one DCI according to predefined association among multiplephysical downlink control channel (PDCCH) candidates respectively indifferent control resource sets.

Example 14 is an apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node forultra-reliable low-latency communication in a frequency division duplexsystem. The apparatus comprising baseband circuitry that includes one ormore processors to configure a downlink control information (DCI) forscheduling data transmission using blank resource of a self-containedslot structure, and to determine a control resource set (CORESET) fortransmitting the DCI in a first slot. The baseband circuitry furtherincludes a radio frequency (RF) interface to receive downlink data fromthe one or more processors, including the DCI.

Example 15 is the apparatus of Example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure a first DCI forslot-based scheduling of transmission of a first physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) content in the first slot, and to configure asecond DCI for non-slot-based scheduling of transmission of a secondPDSCH content within blank resource of the first slot.

Example 16 is the apparatus of Example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to determine the CORESET in themiddle of the first slot for transmitting the DCI, and to configure theDCI for non-slot-based scheduling of transmission of a physical uplinkshared channel (PUSCH) content within blank resource of a second slotimmediately next to the first slot.

Example 17 is the apparatus of Example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the DCI forscheduling uplink data transmission in the first slot and a second slotimmediately next to the first slot across slot boundary between thefirst and second slots.

Example 18 is the apparatus of Example 14, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the DCI forscheduling first uplink data transmission in the first slot andscheduling second uplink data transmission in blank resource of a secondslot immediately next to the first slot.

Example 19 is an apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node forultra-reliable low-latency communication in a frequency division duplexsystem. The apparatus includes baseband circuitry that includes one ormore processors to configure a downlink control information (DCI) forscheduling data transmission of a transport block (TB), and to dividethe TB into a plurality of code block groups (CBGs). The basebandcircuitry further includes a radio frequency (RF) interface to receivedownlink data from the one or more processors, including the DCI.

Example 20 is the apparatus of Example 19, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to group the CBGs into a firstpart of CBGs and a second part of CBGs. The RF interface is further toreceive a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) content carryinghybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the first part ofCBGs, and a second PUCCH content carrying HARQ feedback for the secondpart of CBGs.

Example 20 is the apparatus of Example 20, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are further to configure the DCI toindicate resource allocation for transmission of the first PUCCH contentand the second PUCCH content.

Example 22 is an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for ultra-reliablelow-latency communication in a frequency division duplex system. Theapparatus includes baseband circuitry that includes a radio frequency(RF) interface to receive a downlink control information (DCI) forscheduling data transmission of a transport block (TB), and to receive aplurality of code block groups (CBGs) of the TB. The baseband circuitryfurther includes one or more processors to decode the CBGs and toconfigure uplink control data to carry separate hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) feedback for the CBGs.

Example 23 is the apparatus of Example 22, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the uplink controldata to include multiple bits to respectively indicate whether the CBGsare successfully decoded.

Example 24 is the apparatus of Example 22, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are to configure the uplink controldata to include a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) contentcarrying HARQ feedback for a first part of the CBGs, and a second PUCCHcontent carrying HARQ feedback for a second part of the CBGs.

Example 25 is the apparatus of Example 24, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are further to allocate resourcefor transmission of the first and second PUCCH contents according to theDCI.

Example 26 is the apparatus of Example 24, wherein the one or moreprocessors of the baseband circuitry are further to allocate resourcefor transmission of the first PUCCH content according to the DCI, and toderive resource allocation for transmission of the second PUCCH contentfrom resource allocation for the first PUCCH content.

Example 27 is a mechanism for enhancing reliability on downlink controlchannel for URLLC, where first and second DCIs are configured toschedule the same PDSCH content, and the first DCI and the second DCIare transmitted in first and second CORESETs, respectively. Inparticular, the first and second CORESETs are located within a same BWP.

Example 28 is a mechanism for enhancing reliability on downlink controlchannel for URLLC, where first and second DCIs are transmitted in firstand second CCs, respectively, and are used to schedule the same PDSCHcontent to be transmitted in the first CC. The first DCI is transmittedin a first CORESET in the first CC, and the second DCI is transmitted ina second CORESET in the second CC.

Example 29 is the mechanism of Example 28, wherein cross-carrierscheduling is employed for the second DCI in the second CC.

Example 30 is a mechanism for enhancing reliability on downlink controlchannel for URLLC, where two PDCCH candidates are defined for AL4 ineach CORESET, first and second PDCCH candidates for AL4 in the firstCORESET are associated with the first and second PDCCH candidates forAL4 in the second CORESET, respectively.

Example 31 is a mechanism for enhancing reliability on data channel forURLLC, where a first DCI in a first BWP is used to schedule transmissionof the PDSCH content in the first BWP, and a second DCI in a second BWPis used to schedule transmission of the PDSCH content in the second BWP.

Example 32 is a mechanism for enhancing reliability on data channel forURLLC, where the DCI in the first BWP is used to schedule the PDSCHcontent in the first BWP and the PDSCH content in the second BWP. ThePDSCH content in the first BWP and the PDSCH content in the second BWPcarry the same information.

While the present techniques have been described with respect to alimited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art can appreciatenumerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that theappended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fallingwithin the true spirit and scope of the present techniques.

In the foregoing specification, a detailed description has been givenwith reference to specific embodiments. It can, however, be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made thereto without departingfrom the broader spirit and scope of the present techniques as set forthin the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly,to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.Furthermore, the foregoing use of embodiments and other language doesnot necessarily refer to the same embodiment or the same example, butmay refer to different and distinct embodiments, as well as potentiallythe same embodiment.

1-26. (canceled)
 27. A non-transitory computer accessible memory mediumstoring program instructions executable by at least one processor of auser equipment (UE) to: receive, via a radio resource control (RRC)layer from a radio access network (RAN) node, a message that includes aconfiguration for receiving at least two physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) transmissions using at least two component carriers,wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissions are based on the sameinformation for each of the at least two component carriers; andreceive, based at least in part on the configuration, the at least twoPDSCH transmissions based on the same information using the at least twocomponent carriers.
 28. The non-transitory computer accessible memorymedium of claim 27, wherein the at least two component carriers havedifferent numerologies.
 29. The non-transitory computer accessiblememory medium of claim 27, wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissionshave a same redundancy version.
 30. The non-transitory computeraccessible memory medium of claim 27, wherein the at least two PDSCHtransmissions have different redundancy versions.
 31. The non-transitorycomputer accessible memory medium of claim 30, wherein the at least twoPDSCH transmissions have different redundancy versions based on apredefined pattern.
 32. The non-transitory computer accessible memorymedium of claim 27, wherein the program instructions are furtherexecutable to: receive RRC signaling indicating to perform softcombining of the at least two PDSCH transmissions; and perform softcombining of the at least two PDSCH transmission based on the RRCsignaling.
 33. A non-transitory computer accessible memory mediumstoring program instructions executable by at least one processor of aradio access network (RAN) node to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE),a message that includes a configuration for receiving at least twophysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions using at leasttwo component carriers, wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissions arebased on the same information for each of the at least two componentcarriers; and transmit, to the UE, the at least two PDSCH transmissionsbased on the same information using the at least two component carriers.34. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 33,wherein the at least two component carriers have different numerologies.35. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 33,wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissions have a same redundancyversion.
 36. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium ofclaim 33, wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissions have differentredundancy versions.
 37. The non-transitory computer accessible memorymedium of claim 36, wherein the at least two PDSCH transmissions havedifferent redundancy versions based on a predefined pattern.
 38. Thenon-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 33, whereinthe program instructions are further executable to: transmit, to the UE,RRC signaling indicating to perform soft combining of the at least twoPDSCH transmissions, wherein the UE is configured to perform softcombining of the at least two PDSCH transmission based on the RRCsignaling.
 39. A method, comprising: receiving, via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) layer from a radio access network (RAN) node, aconfiguration for receiving one downlink control information (DCI) forscheduling transmission of a plurality of physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) transmissions, wherein each of the plurality of PDSCHtransmissions is based on same information bits; and determining controlresource set (CORESET) for receiving the one DCI; receiving the one DCIindicating scheduling of the plurality of PDSCH transmissions within oneslot of one bandwidth part; and receiving the plurality of PDSCHtransmissions within the one slot of the one bandwidth part.
 40. Themethod of claim 39, wherein the plurality of PDSCH transmissions have asame redundancy version.
 41. The method of claim 39, wherein theplurality of PDSCH transmissions have different redundancy versions. 42.The method of claim 39, wherein the plurality of PDSCH transmissionshave different redundancy versions based on a predefined pattern. 43.The method of claim 39, wherein the plurality of PDSCH transmissions usethe same number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)symbols.
 44. The method of claim 43, wherein the plurality of PDSCHtransmissions are received simultaneously on non-overlappingfrequencies.
 45. The method of claim 39, wherein the one DCI dynamicallyindicates whether or not the scheduled transmission includes theplurality of PDSCH transmissions.
 46. A method for operating a networknode, comprising: by the network node: configuring, via a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) layer, a user equipment (UE) to receive one downlinkcontrol information (DCI) for scheduling transmission of multiplephysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions, each of themultiple PDSCH transmissions based on same information bits, anddetermining a control resource set (CORESET) for transmitting the oneDCI; encoding the one DCI for scheduling transmission of the multiplePDSCH transmissions based on the same information bits within one slotof one bandwidth part; and encoding the multiple PDSCH transmissionsbased on the same information bits for transmission within one slot ofone bandwidth part.
 47. The method of claim 46, wherein the multiplePDSCH transmissions have a same redundancy version.
 48. The method ofclaim 46, wherein the multiple PDSCH transmissions have differentredundancy versions.
 49. The method of claim 46, wherein the multiplePDSCH transmissions have different redundancy versions based on apredefined pattern.
 50. The method of claim 46, wherein the multiplePDSCH transmissions use the same number of orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) symbols.
 51. The method of claim 50, wherein themultiple PDSCH transmissions are transmitted simultaneously onnon-overlapping frequencies.
 52. The method of claim 46, wherein the oneDCI dynamically indicates whether or not the scheduled transmissionincludes the multiple PDSCH transmissions.